How rare are '93 short rifles?

Ultona · Post by **Ultona** » Sat Dec 10, 2005 12:33 am

I just bought an original '93 38-55 20" short rifle. How rare are these? Mine is a late gun with the serial number under the lever, probably late 1920's or so, S buttplate. I have never encountered a "real" 20" Marlin short rifle before, and I have bought and sold quite a few 1894's and 1893's, probably 25 or 30 in the past few years. Couldn't believe it when i checked the dovetails and found out this was really factory (characteristic Marlin machine marks in the dovetails and same exact placement of them as my other guns). Just curious, maybe these are a dime a dozen and I just don't know about it

mobydoug · Post by **mobydoug** » Sat Dec 10, 2005 10:37 am

Ultona, I've never seen statistics, but think about how many Marlin levers you've seen and this is the first short rifle. I think they're rare.

marlinman93 · Post by **marlinman93** » Sat Dec 10, 2005 4:44 pm

Short rifles in the late '93 series are not rare. They are more common than standard rifles in this era. What is uncommon is finding a short rifle from late production in a .38-55! I can't say as I've ever seen a really late production short rifle in anything but .30-30 and .32 Spl.
You may have made a great find, or a rebarreled gun! My Marlin catalogs from the late 1920's and early 1930's era don't show any calibers but .30-30 and .32 Spl. offered.
I always say never say never, but the chances of this being original to the gun are suspect. The length may be correct, but to another gun.

Ultona · Post by **Ultona** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 9:33 am

Nope, its not a rebarrel as far as I can tell. It is a pretty late gun, but not the first late model 93 I have had in 38-55. They continued using up company barrels in the 20's, as my other gun is marked "Company" instead of corporation too, but both guns are near new except for the case color fading. Both also have "Marlin Safety" on the top of the frame with NO hepburn holes at all. They also both have that little "window" on the bottom of the trigger plate where the carrier stop pokes thorugh, just like on a modern Marlin 336 trigger plate. I don't think 38-55 was exactly a hot seller by this time in Marlin's history, but they were making a few, probably to use up old barrels more than anything else.